WPSL NEWS: SD SEALIONS RETURN TO FINAL FOUR

San Diego SeaLions Advance to WPSL Final Four

The San Diego SeaLions will compete in the 2017 WPSL Final Four as they return to championship weekend for the second consecutive year. In 2013, the SeaLions won the national title and last season they lost a tough final match to the Boston Breakers’ Reserve club.

WPSL Soccer News: The San Diego SeaLions are returning to the WPSL Final Four this weekend for the second consecutive season and the third time in the last five years.

“Last year we had confidence and quality, and each player believed we were good enough to win the title,” said San Diego head coach Jen Lalor. “But we came up short. This year we have confidence and quality, yes, but we also have desire, a deep desire that comes from the belief that we fell short of our potential last season, a desire for redemption.”

It’s never easy in the 104-team WPSL. Each of this season’s Final Four regional champions is undefeated. The SeaLions (11-0-1) will face off Saturday evening against Midwest champions Fire & Ice Soccer Club from longtime soccer hotbed St. Louis. Meanwhile, 2016 WPSL champions Boston (9-0-0), also return to the Final Four and will play WPSL South Champions Gulf Coast Texans (8-0-2) in the second semifinal match.

“It’s no secret that we would enjoy the opportunity to redeem ourselves in a rematch against Boston,” said SeaLions assistant coach Lu Snyder. “But we are always focused on the next game, and Fire & Ice is a battle-tested, experienced, methodical club. Our match against them will have the quality and feel of a championship game.”

Indeed, Fire & Ice (10-0-0), behind solid defense and goalkeeper Kindra Lierz (SEMO), has yielded just three goals in 2017, by far the WPSL’s fewest, while scoring 34, including twelve by forward Kailey Utley (W.Virginia U) and six, along with seven assists, from Hannah Kimsey (Concordia).

“We decided at the beginning of the season that we were going to put in whatever work was needed to get us to the Final Four,” said Fire & Ice owner and head coach Lindsay Kennedy Eversmeyer. “We joined the WPSL five years ago and quickly realized that the teams that train the hardest, play with the most heart and make the fewest mistakes are the ones that come out on top. So we focus at practice on fitness, game-situations, and speed of play. And on resourcefulness.”

SeaLions in Ohio during 2016 WPSL National Championship

Meanwhile, the SeaLions are coming off a hard-fought 3-1 win over WPSL power Seattle Sounders Women and a 6-0 easy drubbing of L.A. Beach FC in the West Regional finals last weekend. Fourteen SeaLions have found the back of the net of the 43 times in 2017, led by Angelina Hix’s (MiraCosta) nine goals and Elise Britt’s (UCLA) six. Co-captain Rosie Tantillo-Colon (USC) has contributed five assists and three goals, while co-captain Kaycee Gunion (CSU-San Marcos) is again among the league-leading goalkeepers with a microscopic 0.55 goals against average over San Diego’s eleven matches.

“Our SeaLions are peaking at the right time,” said San Diego SeaLionsassistant coach Paul Wright. “They’re playing the best soccer of the season so far, and we have the heart to do what’s necessary to win. We’ve worked hard and I’m confident that hard work will pay off.”

The semifinal matches will be played at 5:00 p.m. PT Saturday, and the WPSL Championship Game on Sunday at 2:00 pm, at Silverlakes Sports Complex, 5555 Hamner Ave., Corona, CA 92880.

Tune into the SeaLions Facebook page, or to the ScoreStream mobile app, to track the progress of the SeaLions matches in real time.

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Chris Rael is a reporter for GoalNation and covers youth and adult soccer.
A multimedia artist whose hobbies include camping, traveling and playing football as much as possible. Chris is based in Rotterdam, Netherlands.